Child Lost in Fire
by nodelinquent
Summary: She was, and always will be, a child lost in fire. Karai-centered drabbles.
1. Red

Karai studies the picture closely; the rounded corners, the uneven rip, the hand that curls around her mother's shoulder (she often finds herself studying her father's hand, trying to decipher if they are the same or if he has changed too much since then, and if she finds any differences, that is what she tells herself).

Her mother. Tang Shen. __Oroku __Shen.

She follows the gentle curve of her mother's face, reaches up to touch her own face, the tip of her fingers tickling her jaw line. She moves her hand to her hair, looks up at her reflection. It's too short. If it was longer, then they would definitely look more alike.

Karai leans in close, staring intently into her own eyes. Looks down at the picture again. Back at the mirror. Frowns.

She carefully wedges one of the photo's corners between the mirror and its frame, making sure it's secure before moving her hand away.

From her make-up kit, she pulls out a bright red eyeshadow. She closes her left eye, drawing thick, precise lines on her eyelid, up to her eyebrow. When she's done, she repeats the process on her right eyelid.

_Red_.

Like the flames that destroyed her family.

And the color of her mother's sweater when she comes to her in dreams.


	2. Hachikô

"Sit."

Hachikō - the young, unruly Akita dog that Saki had bought a few months ago for his daughter - sat down at Karai's command.

"Roll over."

The dog immediately dropped and rolled over.

Karai stepped forward, kneeling. "Sit. Paw."

Hachikō sat down again, lifting his paw and placing it in Karai's open hand.

"Good boy." She stood straight, turning to Shredder and bowing. "Bow." Hachikō lowered his head towards the man as well.

"Well done, Karai," Saki said, studying his daughter and the dog. She had been extremely receptive to her authority training, taking on the task and completing it faster than Shredder ever expected her to.

"Thank you, father."

"Since you have finished your lesson, you may have the rest of the day off."

She bowed again, telling Hachikō to follow as she stepped out of the throne room.

Once they were both on the other side of the doors, Karai kneeled and ruffled Hachikō's fur, making him pant and his tail waggle excitedly. "What a good boy you are, what a good, good boy."

She laughed when he licked her face.

* * *

A few months later they took Hachikō away, and Karai's heart broke as only a six year old's heart could.

But she did not allow herself to shed a single tear.


	3. The Girl With No Name

**A small AU of what might have happened after "The Fourfold Trap". **

* * *

The girl with no name flees the city in the cover of night.

She doesn't question how she knows how to hijack a car - she just does. Besides, she's done asking questions, because all the answer her mind gives her are headaches, and flashes of… of _something _she doesn't understand.

Her hands are slippery against the steering wheel, sewer water dripping down her face. She brushes her bangs out of her face and focuses on the road ahead. She has no idea where she's going, but a voice inside her is screaming to get out of the city, no, to get the _hell _away from New York City.

The sunrise glares at her from the horizon, stinging at her eyes. Her teeth has finally stopped clattering and a small sense of relief fills her chest.

She looks around inside the stolen car - some cds, coins, a half-eaten bag of chewing gums, bunch of old starbucks cups, a manual and a dirty, black jacket stuffed in the backseat. She makes a mental note to check the trunk before switching on the radio.

_Love of my life, don't leave me_

_"Your mother was the love of my life!"_

The words hit her like a lightning strike. She screams, clutching her head. The wheel turns and her whole body jerks forward when the car crashes into a lamp pole.

* * *

_Home. She needs to get home._

_Her entire body is aching, pain pulsating from where Leonardo struck her. There was an agonizing pounding in her head, almost like something was moving around in there._

_She shifted back into human form, pushing open the doors to the lair._

_Shredder was there to greet her, looming over her as she fell to her knees in front of him._

_"Father," She panted helplessly, and now the ache was getting worse and worse. Everything was spinning, something was… was moving inside her and- and oh god it was coming up her throat._

_She heaved, hunched over and threw up the worm at Shredder's feet._

_There was a moment where her mind was completely blank. Then memories came flooding back to her at rapid speed - the lies, the truths, the worm crawling into her head and twisting her mind to Shredder's whims…_

_The turtles. Leonardo._

_She put a hand over her mouth. _What have I done?

_"Tiger Claw," Shredder's voice startled her, "Take her to Stockman."_

_"No," She whispered, then screamed when Tiger Claw took a hold of her, "No! No please not again!" She struggled wildly, continued to scream through her sore throat._

_"Father! Father!"_

* * *

She opened her eyes at the jolt of her heart.

Her cheek was pressed against the wheel, and when she moved away she could still feel it indented against her skin. How long had she been out?

She crawled out of the wreckage, eyes stinging with tears and head pounding.

But she remembered now, remembered as tears started to run down her cheeks.

She wasn't a girl without a name.

She was one with two.


End file.
